1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, information processing method for processing a document and a medium storing a program thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image processing apparatus which stores print data, and prints print data in response to a user's operation as needed is prevalently used. In such an image processing apparatus, a technique for converting print data into an internal document format and executing pre-print processing upon storing the print data is known. When an image input from an image input apparatus is saved as a file in a secondary storage device in an image output apparatus by the aforementioned technique, the user can read out and repetitively output that image at desired timings. Such function of storing input data in the secondary storage device of the image output apparatus in a file format for the purpose of re-use is called a box function and, in particular, a file system is called a box.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-23942 describes a technique which converts a bitmap image input by an image input apparatus into drawing data which does not depend on the resolution of the image input apparatus. Such processing for converting a bitmap image into resolution-independent data is called vector conversion or vectorization, and data obtained as a result of vectorization is called vector data.
A file in a box in the box function is a bitmap image or vector data. As the number of saved files increases, it is harder to find out a target file from list information of file names or thumbnails. In such case, the user inputs a keyword included in the target file from a user interface, and displays a list of only files that match the keyword using a search function, thus improving the user's convenience.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-352782 describes a technique which diverts a keyword of similar image data which is similar to target image data to that of the target image data, and reduces the load on keyword assignment. However, since vector data generated by vectorization is drawing data used to execute resolution-independent drawing, it does not always include a search keyword to be used by the user such as character string information and image information in a document.
Therefore, to solve this problem, subsidiary information obtained upon generation of resolution-independent data is generated as non-printed additional information, and is appended to vector data. Such additional information is often also called metadata. Normally, the generated metadata is appended to an aggregate of jobs, pages, and drawing objects (for example, an aggregate including drawing units such as Text, Graphic, and Image objects together).
Upon storing a document stored in an image processing apparatus in an intermediate data format, the user may often edit additional information. Assuming that an object corresponding to the edited additional information is used in a plurality of documents, the contents of the additional information may be biased depending on documents. The contents of generated additional information may often be difference for respective apparatuses due to different additional information generation methods. For example, a generation method having a newer function may generate a larger number of pieces of additional information than a conventional generation method. Additional information is normally used upon searching for documents using keywords, and it is desired that additional information is not biased among documents that commonly use an object appended with the additional information.
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-339211, for example, a system in which files are stored in a server or the like and are shared in an arrangement in which a plurality of apparatuses are linked via a network or the like is prevalently used. In such an arrangement, the contents of additional information may be biased by a user's edit operation among files stored in the server or the like.